Page 162 of Evil Hearts

Chapter One

Rosalie

M y heart hammers a steady rhythm in my chest despite my panicked and erratic breathing. All around me the darkness looms, an almost tangible and oppressive entity that threatens to swallow me whole. High above, beyond the treetops, an orange moon glows; but it’s lurid light scarcely penetrates the gnarled and twisted canopy of the landscape which has fast become a living nightmare.

What should have been a pleasant stroll through the changing leaves in the cool of night has transformed my entire sense of reality. Everything I’ve ever learned, all the science, the logic… it’s gone out the window—replaced by the surreal memories of childhood fairytales and spooky stories told by torchlight under the safety of the bedcovers.

Out here nothing is as it seems. The shadows move of their own accord, slithering from tree to tree, always around… but never there. Unnatural sounds abound, stirring close by, and bodiless, incomprehensible whispers reach my ears on the chill breeze. I’m being watched, there can be no denying it. I don’t know by who or what, but the presence of something ancient and terrible lurks just out of my vision, lingering in the dark—waiting—seemingly just biding its time to strike.

But what is it waiting for? I can’t help but wonder. I’ve no concept of how long I’ve been hopelessly wandering. There is no way to tell from which direction I originally came, and there are no familiar stars by which to navigate my way home. Everything here is strange and constantly changing, as if it’s in flux. It’s almost like I’ve stumbled through the woods of my remote little neighborhood and crossed an invisible barrier into another world.

A world where I can’t trust my senses. A world where the impossible has suddenly become very possible. A world where I am no longer at the top of the food chain. I can feel it in my very bones. There are predators in the darkness here that defy all reason. They are not creatures that can be found on Earth. At least not in the dimension I come from… the thought is as sobering as it is an absolute mindfuck.

I’m alone and lost and worst of all—I am prey. Unarmed prey. I swallow my fear as a twig snaps nearby and plaster myself to the rough bark of the nearest tree, my heart galloping. The temperature seems to drop around me, and I stand as a still as a statue, my breath fogging in the air like it would on an icy winter’s day. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Whatever it is, is close. Perilously so. It’s very presence has the shadows of the night shrinking away.

“Run, pretty prey… Run.” Rasps a voice as deep as thunder, right by my ear.

It can talk! Unable to help myself, a flood of warmth trickles down my legs to saturate my runners and the crunchy, colorful leaves underfoot. Oh, God. A desperate, choked whimper escapes me and I clutch the tree so hard and so fearfully that I draw blood.

A growl rumbles and I feel an icy breath at my neck and then the unmistakable touch of a beast’s wet nose as it inhales my scent, trailing its nightmarish snout up and down my throat.

“You smell delicious,” the voice taunts. “Your fear, your blood, your piss… You make my mouth water.”

Any semblance of hope I had in perhaps being able to reason with this creature flies out of the realm of possibility upon his declaration. “What are you?” I manage to whisper, my own voice hoarse and strangled by terror. If I’m going to die, my morbid sense of curiosity would have me know what took my life.

“I am your nightmare, little girl. I am the Beast in the Dark.” His words echo in my mind like a dark promise, mortally horrifying and darkly sensual all at once.

“What do you want from me?” I gasp, trembling from head to toe, my eyes squeezed shut against the darkness around me. A part of me—a part I’m too afraid to acknowledge—already knows. Deep down I know there are only two things a beast of such horror and terrifying majesty could ever desire… Pursing my lips, silent, hot tears streak down my cheeks, and I release the tree behind me to clench my fists by my sides; digging my nails as deeply into my palms as I can. The sharp pain is somehow grounding, and I embrace it, holding onto it like an anchor or lifeline to reality.

“I want everything, little girl,” the beast drawls, remaining just out sight, hidden within the inky gloom of the night.

I feel what can only be a claw drag idly against my throat. It nicks me and draws forth another whimper from my lips.

Another rumble has me shaking. There is no mistaking its meaning. It is the sound of pleasure—of satisfaction—as the beast licks his claw somewhere behind me, tasting my blood. “Run, little girl. Now. Or I will feast upon your bones. One way or another, I will have your flesh. How I sample it… I shall leave up to you.”

My heart nearly stills in my chest. He fucking means it. Dear God.

“Run!” the beast roars, spittle flying over my shoulder as I throw myself into the darkness.

Without so much as a backward glance, I run. Leaping over fallen logs by what little moonlight I’m afforded by the twisted canopy, prickly shrubs and bare, low-hanging trees scratch and ensnare me as I go. Again and again, I feel their sharp sting, until my skin is on fire—just like my lungs. Putting as much distance between myself and that monster as I physically can, I run until I drop. On all fours on the damp earth, the odor of rot and decay overwhelms me.

I have no idea how long I’ve run, but as a low, long howl shatters the haunting silence of the night, I know one thing to be true with a bone-chilling clarity. No matter how far I run, or where I go in these God forsaken woods, the beast in the dark will find me. He’s tasted my blood, and I’m covered in my own piss… my stomach lurches as I desperately try and catch my breath. He’ll smell me a mile away!